Data versioning

Data versioning and backward compatibility

This document explains how to save and load versioned data using the data versioning feature.

Starting from v0.6.4, TFHE-rs supports versioned data types. This allows you to store data and load it in the future without compatibility concerns. This feature is done by the tfhe-versionable crate.

This versioning scheme is compatible with all the data formats supported by serde.

Saving and loading versioned data

To use the versioning feature, wrap your types in their versioned equivalents before serialization using the versionize method. You can load serialized data with the unversionize function, even in newer versions of TFHE-rs where the data types might evolve. The unversionize function manages any necessary data type upgrades, ensuring compatibility.

# Cargo.toml

[dependencies]
# ...
tfhe = { version = "~1.5.3", features = ["integer"] }
tfhe-versionable = "0.6.0"
bincode = "1.3.3"

// main.rs

use std::io::Cursor;
use tfhe::prelude::{FheDecrypt, FheEncrypt};
use tfhe::{ClientKey, ConfigBuilder, FheUint8};
use tfhe_versionable::{Unversionize, Versionize};

fn main() {
    let config = ConfigBuilder::default().build();

    let client_key = ClientKey::generate(config);

    let msg = 1;
    let ct = FheUint8::encrypt(msg, &client_key);

    // Versionize the data and store it
    let mut serialized_data = Vec::new();
    let versioned_client_key = client_key.versionize();
    let versioned_ct = ct.versionize();
    bincode::serialize_into(&mut serialized_data, &versioned_client_key).unwrap();
    bincode::serialize_into(&mut serialized_data, &versioned_ct).unwrap();

    // Load the data. This can be done in the future with a more recent version of tfhe-rs
    let mut serialized_data = Cursor::new(serialized_data);
    let versioned_client_key = bincode::deserialize_from(&mut serialized_data).unwrap();
    let versioned_ct = bincode::deserialize_from(&mut serialized_data).unwrap();
    let loaded_client_key =
        ClientKey::unversionize(versioned_client_key).unwrap();
    let loaded_ct =
        FheUint8::unversionize(versioned_ct).unwrap();

    let output: u8 = loaded_ct.decrypt(&loaded_client_key);
    assert_eq!(msg, output);
}

Versionize

Calling .versionize() on a value will add versioning tags. This is done recursively so all the subtypes that compose it are versioned too. Under the hood, it converts the value into an enum where each version of a type is represented by a new variant. The returned object can be serialized using serde:

    let versioned_client_key = client_key.versionize();
    bincode::serialize_into(&mut serialized_data, &versioned_client_key).unwrap();

Unversionize

The Type::unversionize() function takes a versioned value, upgrades it to the latest version of its type and removes the version tags. To do that, it matches the version in the versioned enum and eventually apply a conversion function that upgrades it to the most recent version. The resulting value can then be used inside TFHE-rs

    let versioned_client_key = bincode::deserialize_from(&mut serialized_data).unwrap();
    let loaded_client_key =
        ClientKey::unversionize(versioned_client_key).unwrap();

Breaking changes

When possible, data will be upgraded automatically without any kind of interaction. However, some changes might need information that are only known by the user of the library. These are called data breaking changes. In these occasions, TFHE-rs provides a way to upgrade these types manually.

You will find below a list of breaking changes and how to upgrade them.